Democracy is a precious gift - so please, voters in Ely East, use it next Thursday in by-election

I HOPE that all who can will turnout to vote in the East Ely district council by-election next Thursday.

We look abroad and see what a precious gift it is that in this country we can still choose our representatives and hold them to account through a reasonably fair and reliable system.

Of course, all candidates claim to have local issues and needs at heart but I am dismayed by the attempt of the UKIP candidate to use the immigration issue to gather votes from people who think England is under threat from foreign labour.

This is particularly wonky thinking when we know that the agricultural industry in this area is very dependent at this moment on such labour and it is insulting to those workers who are here, contributing to the economy rather than being a drain on it as it is claimed.

Historically too, this area owes much to the foreign Dutch and Belgian engineers who created the rich Fen farmland and the Irish navvies who dug the drain.

I will vote for the Liberal Democrats which is a part that has proved itself genuinely responsive to the needs and hopes of the electors, especially at local level and is not in the control of other interests.

DEREK ANDREWS

Ely